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Published: February 2nd 2006
Me and Mathurin
Happy New Year!Happy New Year! That’s “Happy New Year” in Mina too. I partied heartily for both holidays.
I spent Christmas with my family in Aplahoue. I arrived Saturday evening and left around noon Monday. Darly told me I arrived late and left early. My friends in Athieme told me I was gone too long.
I went to midnight mass in Aplahoue, after having watched Zelag, Darly, Maman, and another girl kill, clean, and cook three chickens, one being a “yovococlo,” that is, a white-person chicken. White-person chickens are big, fat, lay eggs everyday, and are reputed to not taste as good as regular Beninese chickens. Then again, maybe they have that reputation because they cost more. I would have helped, but there were already three cooks and a helper around the fire, so I chatted while they worked.
Sunday morning I had chicory coffee and some bread, saving plenty of room for black-eyed peas and rice for lunch, and later, for dinner, akassa and tomato-onion-piment sauce. I ate so well.
I discovered that my family is never silent, something I hadn’t known living an apartment away. Freujus had a battery-powered toy radio that played the same song over and over and over.
He really liked listening to it. I got really sick of listening to it. Not only his song, but also the radio or music videos Darly or Zelag put in played all weekend long. Papa had brought home a new film on cd that was somehow already scratched, but because what we could watch before the cd stopped was funny, we watched it over and over and over… I sat in the salon while they watched, and read my book when not playing cards. Even at night, I heard the radio going.
I was very comfortable. I had my own room even, though not the same room as before. I am spoiled rotten. The best news is that the new latrine has a light, which means no more cockroaches! At least, a much lesser frequency.
Papa took me out on the town a bit, to meet some friends of his and to visit a friend of mine from stage. Having been back to visit my family after having established myself in Athieme, and being able to communicate well, makes me realize that I kept myself distant from my family. The language was a barrier, but because I had all these dumb assumptions about what was expected of me and what I expected of them, I never explained myself very well, nor really trusted myself to just be myself. Now that I have dropped those silly assumptions, I am much more comfortable, and have many more interesting conversations.
Christmas in Benin was much the same as at home: lost of food, lots of friends and family, lots of music and a good vacation. There is not the big gift exchange, but that doesn’t matter because people are already so generous. I left some friendship bracelets and a can opener though, and received a bottle of snacky things and money for the taxi back. I tried to give back the money, but was refused, of course.
New Years’ was great, though in a way somewhat dampened by the death of my friend Judichielle’s (spelling?) father. So, Saturday at noon-ish, I rode my bike to the next village over to pay my respects to the family. The holiday was only slightly dampened because the funeral was not somber, as in the States, but is a good party. Lots of people, lots of food, lots of dancing, and lots of music. Of course people are in mourning, but it’s still a party.
I only stayed for a bit, before biking back to Athieme to Mathurin’s for pate rouge, my favorite. He had told me he was going to cook, but he lied. His wife did all the cooking. He said he was busy all morning long, too busy to cook, but I think he is lazy.
Anyway, we ate well before playing seven hands of UNO. The first six were to see who would win for the day, which was Mathurin, four to two, unfortunately. The seventh set the running score in my favor, unfortunately for Mathurin. He talks a lot of trash, but, all right so do I.
We eventually made our way to Lokossa to meet up with some people and party there. I ordered a coke, and the waitress laughed; what she didn’t know was that I had rum in my purse! After a drink or two, okay two (only me, Mathurin was driving and just had a taste) we went to a fellow Americans home and made a plan to meet back up again at the bar after a bit, where again I had a couple drinks and danced with the waitress. Mom once asked me if I had a drinking problem; no, I have absolutely no problem drinking what so ever. (Gimme a break, it was New Years’.) I even had champagne at midnight!
I eventually made it to bed at 4h30, 5h-ish Sunday morning, the same morning that I awoke at 8h, in enough time to clean up, pick up my new clothes at the tailors’, and make it to church. Church started late and lasted forever, but afterwards I ate excellent food with the Religious: French fries, couscous, shichkebobs (spelling?), telibo (pate noir, which is good too) and pineapples and yogurt. Yeah, I am spoiled. It was a lot of fun.
Between that meal and Ghislain’s at 17h, I had enough time to sleep a bit, but did not. I read until someone visited me, who stayed until I left for the next function.
Ghislain’s was fun. We sat on mats outside his home and ate and ate and ate (I was taking a break from drinking). After eating really good beans he had prepared, we ate akassa and ablo and all kinds of good food, compliments of his mother and other female members of his family. What’s really cool about Ghislain’s village is that everyone is family, and I mean that in the actual bloodline, genetic sense. No, there is not incest; his grandfather had gone out hunting one day and found a good place to build a home. Now all his descendants live there too. I think it’s really cool. Every time I meet someone, G tells me it’s his uncle, or his big brothers’ (translated: cousin) wife’s mother, etc.
We played musical chairs; when I played, everyone just about fell over, and some little kids actually did, because they were so pleased to see me dancing and partying with them. I danced for a bit, but ended up doing more chair-dancing because I was so tired, and because it was so much fun to watch everyone dance. I stayed until about 22h, but had to eat again before Ghislain brought me home. After which, I slept. Oh, beautiful sleep.
I know, you all wish you had been here. I wish that too, but there is still 2007!
Love you all, and happy birthdays Grandmas! ebk
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Greta
non-member comment
Happy New Year
Wow Erika! That does sound like lots of fun. I'm glad that you had happy holidays. Love you, miss you. -G